


Late Night Chatterbox

by BlueRoboKitty



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-10 21:15:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4407956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueRoboKitty/pseuds/BlueRoboKitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barbara Gordon wakes up from another nightmare, and only one person is around to give her some comfort. Some hurt/comfort fluff sprinkled with flirting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late Night Chatterbox

She awoke with a start, her t-shirt drenched with icy sweat, strands of her crimson hair matted flat against her damp face. The nightmare didn’t come as often as it did three years ago, but when it did rear its ugly head, it wrapped her tight and sank its teeth into her, its powerful venom of pure terror pumping through her veins. It took Barbara a moment to untangle herself from those inky coils that still squeezed her even though she was wide awake now.

Water. Something to drink would make her feel better.

Barbara swung her legs over the bed to stand, but the moment she put her weight on her feet they gave beneath her, and she only managed to drag the blanket down with her when she grabbed it for support. _No! NO!_

A sharp sensation of pain shooting through her ankle proved to her that her legs were working just fine. She made a small choking sound, somewhere between a laugh and a sob, as she lay there sprawled beneath her comforter. A heavy sigh of relief spilled from her chest, chasing away the coils of terror that finally relinquished their hold on her. The fact she was able to get out of bed feet-first, albeit unsuccessfully, was something she would not have been able to do if the nightmare was true.  

Barbara finally did manage to stand up, her legs shaking like two slender stacks of jello and her ankle protesting hotly from being rolled upon, but _standing_ all the same. A few tentative steps toward her bedroom door and they remembered how to hold her up properly.

Frankie had finally gone to bed. The entire apartment was dark, save for the tiny blue light from the laptop sitting in sleep mode on the coffee table. Barbara shivered. Suddenly the kitchen was miles away, and a thick wall of darkness stood between it and her bedroom. That tiny light bathed the living room in an eerie blue glow, making the shadows seem even more sinister.

Shadows that _grinned_ back at her.

Barbara dove back into her room and shut the door. She pushed in the lock for good measure. She wasn’t that thirsty, anyway.

She clicked on the lamp by her bed, but even the warm light did little to chase back the chill she felt at the back of her neck. Her spine tingled like a threat. She sat on the bed and hugged her arms to her chest, her fingers digging into the soft skin of her freckled shoulders. She curled and uncurled her toes, just to make sure.

She wasn’t going back to sleep, not like this. She was wide awake and her heartrate still hadn’t returned to normal. It was times like this, feeling alone and scared, that she desperately wanted someone to talk to.

But she never did. Not three years ago and not now, even if Frankie was (and she would be!) willing to lend an ear after being up half of the night working on Hooq code. It was a pride thing with Barbara, always had been.

_"You shouldn’t have to do things alone.”_

No, what she really should not be doing is thinking about _him_ , hearing _his_ voice in her head in the middle of the night when she was alone and vulnerable. “Hey, Pot, have you met Kettle?” she muttered back even if he wasn’t around to hear her retort. Besides, she had made it this far all by her pretty lonesome, anyway. To prove it, she grabbed her phone from its charger. A few funny videos and cute pictures of puppies would make her feel better. Then she would slip quietly back to the land of dreams and everything will be fine. Like always.

It was a little past two. It wasn’t like anyone would be awake for her to call, anyway. And those who would be awake right now… well, they would be busy with more important matters. A little nightmare didn’t compare to someone living it. Maybe she should be out there. Burnside had been quiet lately, but maybe this was a sign that she shouldn’t become complacent, a sign that she took the wrong night off even if she had asked Tim to keep an ear out for her.

Her phone buzzed. A message.

_Yup, that’s Tim, telling you to get your little ass in gear, Burnside needs Batgirl._

It wasn’t Tim.

It was a picture. Sunlight streaming over a beautiful city sprawling with both buildings and green trees all reaching toward a bright blue horizon. Then came a new message, text this time.

“Good morning from Bangladesh! Thought you’d might like the view. :)”

Jason.

Barbara felt her face grow a little warm. Deep down she wanted someone to talk to, and then he just showed up out of nowhere. He had a weird way of doing that. It was amazing that no matter how dark the world became, how dark _her_ world became, he would always find these little pocket places of paradise tucked away in the world, and ever since a few weeks ago, he would send her little snapshots of these tiny heavens for her to keep. To remind her that it was worth it, all of it.

She texted back. “It’s beautiful.”

Ten seconds and then a buzz. Funny. They had never been online together before. They always seemed to miss each other. Not tonight.

“Did I wake you up? My bad.”

“No. I’ve been awake.”

After a thought, she added another text.

“I fell out of bed.”

The responding buzz was almost immediate.

“LMAO. Did you really?”

She could hear his laugh in her head, knew exactly what it would sound like, that cocky “ha ha got ya” laugh of his that was a perfect blend of infuriating and attractive. 

Attractive? Oh God.

_Buzzz._

“Did you have a nightmare?”

She couldn’t help wondering how many times Jason probably fell out of bed due to a nightmare. There would be no sense in lying. Something in that message, in its little purple curvy letters she had chosen as her phone’s font settings, felt like he _knew_ anyway.

“Yes.”

Immediately - “Do you want me to call you?”

It would be nice to hear his voice. _Anyone’s voice,_ she corrected herself.

Her phone made tiny little clicks, drops of info into the vast ocean of cyberspace as she typed her response. “No. Frankie is asleep. I don’t want to wake her.”

 _Buzz._ “Ok.”

Biting her lower lip and suddenly feeling a little shy, it took a full minute or two before she had the courage to send her reply.

“Is it okay if we text tho? I understand if you’re busy.”

Never thought she would ever end up relying on _Jason Todd_ of all people for support. Well, weirder things have happened to her. He was probably doing other stuff, anyway.

_Buzzzz!!_

“Never too busy for you Barbie. ;) Text away!”

She appreciated that he wasn’t asking for details of her nightmare. She didn’t feel like talking about it. She just wanted to _talk._ Or text. Close enough. Just so that she was reminded she wasn’t alone.

“How is Bangladesh?”

“Not bad. Smells kinda weird. Way too many people. Food is pretty good.”

“You and Arsenal get into any trouble?”

“We’ve been tracking a drug ring. Possible human trafficking too. Bastards have been pretty elusive so far.”

She almost asked if he wanted help. Almost.

“I’m sure you’ll catch the ring. You’re pretty good, you know.”

“Me? Good? Must be the end times.”

“Lol you know what I mean.”

“Well thanks for your vote of confidence but I was never as good with the whole detective thing as Bruce or Tim. Amazing what corners you can cut getting information when you point a gun in someone’s face.”

For the sake of current circumstances, she would let that one slide for now. She didn’t feel like typing up an entire lecture about why pointing guns at people is bad, and her thumbs were actually starting to get tired. In fact, all of her was starting to get tired. Her body sank back against the pillows, the sheets settling over her curves as she settled beneath them. She felt much more relaxed than she had been a long time.

 _Buzz!_ "Oh man I thought for sure you would get on me for that one." 

“I’m actually getting a little sleepy.”

“Am I really that boring lol.”

“You’re not boring at all!”

“Says Miss Sleepyhead.”

“You just make me feel so relaxed.”

He did, really. Jason didn’t have any baggage attached to him, well, any baggage that involved _her_ to be specific. They could actually have a normal conversation without it turning weird. Unlike another former Boy Wonder she knew.

Then he responded. 

“Hey can I ask you something?”

“???”

There was something weird about text messaging in that the longer it took someone to respond the more serious the incoming message was going to be. As the seconds of silence that ticked by slowly transformed into minutes, Barbara felt her stomach twist more and more. Why? Why was she nervous all of sudden?

The incoming _buzz_ nearly made her jump out of her skin. She had dozed off waiting for whatever question he was trying to ask her.

“Is there a new episode of that show with the dragons this week?”

Barbara felt heat radiating from the tips of her ears, suddenly embarrassed before an invisible audience that she had become nervous over nothing. “Not that I know of,” she replied, her hands shaking a little for some odd reason. “The finale was last week. Whatshisname died.”

“Oh. Right. It still hurts thinking about that. He was my favorite.”

“You know what they say about having favorites in this show.”

“I know. I know. :P”

“I’m feeling a lot better now so I’m going to try and get more sleep. Thanks Jason. For talking to me.”

“No prob Barbie. :) Anytime.”

Another text followed.

“Those nights can get really rough.”  

Barbara felt brave enough, safe enough, to shut off the light and pulled the blanket from the floor back over her. The darkness was no longer grinning at her, hiding some unknown threat from her. The shadows gently embraced her instead and she snuggled into her blanket, warm and safe.

Her phone buzzed once more. A new message.

“Sleep well, Barbie.”

 _Admit it,_ a tiny voice spoke up from somewhere in her heart as she drifted off to sleep. _You wanted him to say something weird._


End file.
